An exhibition in Como on Manlio Rho 120 years after his birth

Como’s Pinacoteca Civica opened the exhibition Manlio Rho. Synthesis of the Abstract. The Painting of Manlio Rho and its Archive, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the artist’s birth. The exhibition is curated by Elena Di Raddo in collaboration with Archivio Manlio Rho; the installation by architect Paolo Brambilla.

The exhibition, open until Feb. 6, 2022, stems from the heritage of the Rho Archive, preserved by the artist’s family, in particular by his son Enzo and grandson Giovanni, and investigates the peculiarities of the abstract painting of Manlio Rho (Como, 1901 - 1957) through some exemplary works with studies and variations, bringing out the “method” through which he comes to define the balance of color and shapes present in his compositions. A method based not only on the geometric rule, but also on the study of past masterpieces, thus of the history of art, the researches of European Abstractionism and applied arts, primarily design for fashion.

In addition to the paintings, the exhibition displays sketches, transparencies and variants of the works on canvas, as well as studies on color that draw on the unpublished documentation of the project carried out on behalf of the Turin Fashion Board, a reworking and synthesis of the colors used by artists in various eras. One room, moreover, offers the reconstruction of Manlio Rho’s studio through objects and documents, found in his archives, and the furniture designed by him: on those shelves and bookcases are displayed books, photographs and national and international magazines that show the variety of sources of his work and the attractiveness that this place had for friends and companions in his artistic journey.

Rho’s studio, in fact, represented not only the place where the peculiar style of his abstract work was conceived, but a real gathering space for friends and artists who, in Como, animated the culture of the 1930s and 1940s - painters such as Mario Radice, Carla Badiali, Carla Prina, Cordelia Cattaneo, Aldo Galli and architects such as Cesare Cattaneo, Giuseppe Terragni, Piero Lingeri, Alberto Sartoris.

At the same time, in Campo Quadro-the contemplative space on the second floor of the Pinacoteca-you can admire a self-portrait of the artist from 1921, also from the Rho Archive, in a sort of face-to-face meeting with the artist. In addition, on the top floor of Palazzo Volpi, in the Novecento section, two of Rho’s works are on permanent display, including the important Composizione 50/218, oil on plywood from 1950 exhibited at the VI Quadriennale d’arte nazionale in Rome, as evidenced by the certificate of participation presented among the documents displayed in the last room of the exhibition.

For all information, you can visit Visit Como.eu.

Image: Manlio Rho, Drawing for fabric (1954-1955; Manlio Rho Archives)

An exhibition in Como on Manlio Rho 120 years after his birth

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